Originally from: International Commercial Arbitration in Asia - 3rd Edition

I. INTRODUCTION

Since emerging as one of the significant trading countries in Asia in the 1960s, the Republic of Korea1 has seen a rapid increase in the use of arbitration as a convenient and reliable tool to resolve international business disputes. Korea first enacted its Arbitration Act in 1966. In the same year, Korea also established a permanent commercial arbitration committee as a section of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, so as to promote international trade and to facilitate the resolution of disputes arising out of international trade and transactions. In 1970, the arbitration committee became a full-fledged arbitral institution with separate legal status, known as the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (“KCAB”). In 1973, Korea ratified the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (“the New York Convention”). Due to Korea’s unprecedented economic growth and the explosive increase in international trade since that time, the KCAB has dealt with a rapidly growing number of arbitration cases not only between domestic companies but also involving foreign entities. Korea has also become a place of arbitration for many disputes supervised by internationally renowned arbitral institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).